Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah ordered, on Saturday, the renaming of Karachi’s Civil Hospital after Dr Ruth Pfau, following the state funeral given to the German-Pakistani doctor .

Dr Ruth Pfau, fondly dubbed ‘Pakistan’s magic healer’, was 29-years-old when she arrived in Karachi, in 1960. A single visit to the leprosy patients’ colony on McLeod Road, Karachi (currently I I Chundrigar Road), was all it took for her to dedicate her life to helping leprosy patients in Pakistan.

The leprosy centre built by Pfau, the Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre, an eight-storey building, started off as a small clinic in 1963 where Dr Pfau started the initiative of treating leprosy patients. Since its inception, 56 years ago, the centre has been serving leprosy patients and has treated over 50,000 families.

“Dr Pfau was a symbol of pride for this province and for all of Pakistan,” said the CM Sindh while announcing the renaming. He further directed chief secretary Sindh to release the notification after making the announcement.